KLC

An oil change isn’t any different than any other vehicle on the road, Audis have a belly pan that needs to be removed to access the oil pan but that’s a 5 minute thing to do.  Tires are tires, some use run flats. Brakes can get spendy depending on the model, some of the upper level cars use Brembo brake calipers and typically will dish out the rotors and require replacement rather than resurfacing them but that’s not unique to Audi.  Other than filters I don’t see that keeping an Audi serviced would be a huge amount more than keeping any car in good running condition.  Broken engine mounts can be expected at 50,000 miles or so but again not unique to Audi. There is the cost of taking it to the dealer for your service though, which is a good idea in my opinion because the techs know the cars very well.  For dealer recommended services, always consult with the owners manual first before having anything done. Some services aren’t required but the dealers push them anyways to add to their bottom line, shocking huh?

Is the cost of ownership an issue when you’re considering a $100k sport sedan anyways? Lol

Fwiw, regarding Brembo brakes, Dodge Hellcats use them. They are serious pieces of hardware but there are drawbacks to performance.  If you drive them like they were intended they will wear out the front pads and rotors in 10,000 miles. The problem here is the cost of pads and rotors, a pad kit is $400 and the composite rotors are about $1,000 each.  So that’s a $3000 brake job haha.  Seen it more than once when they get traded in.   Add in another few grand when they need tires, and a few hundred more for a 10qt full synthetic oil change and you’ve got a car with 10k miles that needs $6000 worth of work before it hits the pre owned lot.  
 

And then there’s that little thing with the microchips and lack of cars on dealers lots.  Cars are very hard to buy right now so keep that in mind.  The BMW dealer I drive by everyday seems to have a good inventory though, they (BMW) must have better connections for parts and materials than other manufacturers do.  Crazy stuff going on in the car market.  

I get a kick out of telling people I'm a GM master technician, I drive an F250 and I work for Stellantis.

Just my 2 cents of input...Up until about a year ago I worked for GM for literally my whole 34 year automotive career. Needless to say I've seen a lot of things and had to fix more than a few of them in my days. I am so totally over anything that they manufacture at this point with the exception of maybe the Y platform and then only from 2014 forward. It is my opinion that Cadillacs are way overly complicated and have way too many electrical issues to consider buying one. When the 2019 truck platform was introduced we were bombarded with driver assistance concerns, fuel injector failures and internal engine problems. Don't even get me started on the Duramax. I am so glad to not have to work on them any longer.

So nowadays I work on every brand on the road and I have to say if I had to pick which sports sedan to get I'd say buy an Audi. I'm not a VW fanboy at all, in fact the European cars are definitely a different car altogether. But Audi does stand out among them all, they are fun to drive, have lots of power and the fit and finish is second to none. If you do end up getting a nice European sports sedan, install a clear bra on the complete hood and fenders so you don't chip up the flawless paint jobs they have.

17 hours ago, Orange_R said:

I agree with most of this, but paying out over $1k more a month for fuel is complete bullshit... I'm not selling but that doesn't mean it doesn't completely SUCK! I don't like taking a pay cut and that's exactly what this is, a $10% pay cut. When it hits $10.00 are you still gonna be thinking the same thing? When a trip to GLamis or the river costs $2500-3k for a weekend?

I'm 190 miles from Gordons and it takes exactly 50 gallons of diesel to drive up and back and use the generator for a few hours. I'd still go if diesel went to $10.

7 hours ago, Skyward said:

You sound very successful. I’m sure you paid cash for all of it and are not overextended. Congratulations!

Yes and no, we're just a couple of everyday folks who work hard and save more than we spend. It's not a hard thing to do. 

I'm not selling any of my toys, the Corvette, the F250, the boat, the sandrail, the pusher, I'm keeping it all. Whatever is going on in the world today is not going to break me down, I'm not caving in to the pressure. I'm not a business owner, I sign the back of my paycheck. Life is just as good for us today as it was back whenever it was thought to be better. If you pay less attention to what the fake news reports you all will feel better about everything. If the price of fuel is what is making you unhappy, you are probably overextended and living beyond your means already. 

Don't worry, be happy.

Oh I don't know, I'm not desperate enough to pay grossly inflated prices on anything. What's the price is usually my first question. I don't need anything bad enough to justify pissing money away to get something done right now, I may be a minority though. 

We need to have a water well drilled at our new parcel of land in Az. It's going to cost $51,000. Literally 1 year ago I got a quote for the same well for $30,000. There are instances where it appears businesses are charging way more for their services than they need to. They are just price gouging the common folks just because they can. 

High prices are here to stay so get used to it. 

8 minutes ago, Dunerking said:

Wish I knew some of the GDC peeps do the turf! 
Just had a 45’x80’ sport field with a golf net/soccer goal. Also added a 15’x45’ putting green! 

Life in the southern hemisphere LOL.

No sir that is not mine. I would never use blue shocks with a red chassis. 

Well when you post a photo of your ride to try and help another board member out, and a sponsor comes in right behind and tells everyone that is a good example of how not to do something, that doesn't exactly give me any warm fuzzy feelings of brotherhood. Instead that is a kick to the nutsack. Funny thing is, when I posted more photos and called him out on it he went silent and the thread went into the depths. 

The truth is there are a lot of very talented people out there who don't post here because of shenanigans like that. It gets me fired up just thinking about the incident. That is chit that no one can talk their way out of.

But ok in the spirit of good sportsmanship I'll start a build thread in sand rail stuff and post a pic or two.

Fwiw I stopped contributing to tech threads because they always end up with a board sponsor peddling their own product or arguing that their way is the only way to do something. It really does turn off a lot of people that I talk to. 

I'm also hesitant to start a new build thread for the new 4 seater 1 3/4 x .120 chromo car we're building, I just don't need to hear the same 5 board members tell me why I should have done it this way or that.

One of these days but not right now.

They're just around the corner from AZ Transaxle, they've got a lot of sample seats in their showroom. The owner Herbie is a good guy. I had to give Foddrills the order though, Triple X will not deal directly with the public. 

I don't have ours mounted in the new car yet, but they looked good to me.  Pricing was also good. 
 

I bought Triple X seats because they're local in Phoenix, they offered an actual buggy seat, they made them exactly how we wanted them, and I could never get Jettrim to answer the phone.   Damn it took a long time to get them made though. Good luck with your search.

What is the customer's complaint?  Is the concern able to be duplicated? Has the dealer been able to duplicate it? How many times has it been back to the dealer for the same concern? How many repair attempts have been made to try and resolve the concern? How many days total has it been at the dealer while trying to repair the same concern on all visits? Has it been determined that the concern is not something that can be duplicated in another like vehicle? Is the vehicle still under the manufactures warranty? Are you the original owner? Has the dealer opened a technical assistance case with the manufacturer yet? How much diagnostic time has been logged on the repair order so far, and on how many occasions?  Is it an issue with parts availability? Were you offered alternate transportation while your vehicle is in the dealer's service department? 

I've been in the bus for 35 years I've seen a thing or two. I can tell you that if you go into the dealer and start off the conversation with "Lemon Law" or "I want a buyback" you will almost be guaranteed to be referred to someone at the other end of an 800 number, just sayin'. Dealers typically aren't able to handle that type of request and require the vehicle owner to contact the manufacturer directly. From there, a manufacturer's liaison will contact you to gather the details and determine a course of action, this can take up to a few weeks or more it's not something they will do in one phone call. When a vehicle is repurchased by the manufacturer, they don't just give you a refund of the purchase price, but rather fair market value. If you do get the manufacturer to repurchase your vehicle and you have a loan on it, you may or may not get enough to cover repayment of the loan. You can mofo all you want but that's the reality of it. Sometimes it's better to be patient and allow the dealer to try and fix it. 

Fwiw when I worked as a tech for a "Brand X" dealer I was the chosen one who got to play with the "broken" cars that people wanted out of. In some instances, the root cause of the problem could be identified rather easily and at times a field engineer would come to the dealer to take a peek at it. The field engineer was not at my beck and call though and sometimes it would take a few weeks for him to show up, after going through proper channels. I always requested a road test and sit down with the customer to discuss what we had found and a possible resolution. There were some that were hell bent on getting their vehicles repurchased though, and as soon as they mentioned "lawsuit" or "Lemon Law" we had to end the meeting and refer them to the manufacturer's help line. 

Needless to say, a vehicle repurchase is a complicated process. California has the most consumer friendly repurchase criteria.

Read the warranty information provided for your vehicle, it will detail what you are entitled to depending on your state of residence.  

Doug Thorley headers are great, I've got a set on my buggy. Damn man $500 is a steal they are almost $900 new and they're out of stock.

The answer to your question is No it hasn't gone up that much, it's people's greed that has gotten more expensive. 

It's all BS like the rest of the reality shows, it's all about making you come back next week for more. There is a lot of stupid chit on TV these days, 300 channels and nothing to watch. 

I think all of the chit out in the dunes should be removed. 

I have kept my subscription for 5 years now, I originally signed up for it so I could listen to Richard Blade on 1stWave, I'm an old school 80's KROQ listener. I do like the other  channels and programming too, and no commercials. I also listen when not in the car by streaming it on my phone bluetoothed to the stereo when in the garage, and even when driving to the dunes in the moho. Every once in a while I will tune into something on FM and listen for about 5 minutes until a commercial comes on and then its back to SiriusXM it goes. 

I recently resubscribed for about $100 per car. I think its totally worth it for what I listen to. 

We had a contract to buy 1.25ac in Wittmann last summer, all flat and not in a flood zone, but we backed out of the deal during our due diligence period when we found out it would take up to a year or more to get a well drilled.

There were other properties we looked at that already had a well drilled but no pump on the well head yet. Those might be the ticket. 

Why is there a picture of Susanna Hoffs in your avatar?

I had my 19 F250 at the dealer for some warranty work and the courtesy transportation that Enterprise gave me was a 21 Ram 2500 with the Cummins. After driving the Ram for 3 days I am so glad to get my F250 back! IMO it was an inferior truck, my F250 literally did everything better. Compared back to back the Powerstroke will eat that Cummins for breakfast. 

Sorry Dodge guys just my direct observations between the two.

It's not that big of a deal that the diner is going to be closed again this season. Almost every time we would go there would be a huge line to order food, with winter's shorter days that was time wasted not being IN the dunes. I find it so much more interesting to not have to have a "destination" when venturing out on a run. Like the swingset, Olds and the drags, it's just the same old BS stuck on repeat. 

Phoenix